Prep Basketball: Power’s clutch play keys Ames triumph

Saturday

Dec 17, 2011 at 5:33 AM

With 11 seconds left in the third quarter, Ames High guard Jenna Power had an open shot in the corner a few feet behind the 3-point line. Waukee had just trimmed the score to within five points with its own 3-pointer.

With 11 seconds left in the third quarter, Ames High guard Jenna Power had an open shot in the corner a few feet behind the 3-point line. Waukee had just trimmed the score to within five points with its own 3-pointer.

“For 20 years of coaching, I’d been telling kids not to shoot that shot,” Sullivan said. “But I can’t tell her not to shoot that shot.”

Power took the shot.

“I had a good look, so I figured, ‘Why not?’” Power said. “I wasn’t thinking a whole lot about it.”

She sunk it.

It killed the Warriors momentum. They wouldn’t get that close to the Little Cyclones again.

The No. 3-ranked Little Cyclones won 46-36, improving to 8-0.

“I’ve been playing with Jenna since I was seven years old, and I could tell you I would give her the ball for a shot at half court,” said Ames senior point guard Cheyenne Pritchard, who scored 15 points on her 18th birthday.

“Honestly, when we need a shot, we look to Jenna.”

Ames also improved to 2-0 in the CIML Iowa Conference. No. 6 Waukee, the defending CIML Iowa champion, fell to 4-3 and 1-1.

Ames has beaten three ranked teams, and the Warriors have lost to three ranked teams.

“The locker room is very ecstatic but also very tired,” Pritchard said. “Overall, it’s a very good feeling right now. I think it will drive us the rest of the season. I think teams are really going to go after us now.”

Power, one of Ames’ four seniors, finished with 13 points. She hit three 3-pointers and had other key momentum shots in the game.

“It’s not about our confidence in her, it’s about her confidence in herself,” Sullivan said. “During pregame, I didn’t see her shooting with a lot of confidence. But luckily she’s a shooter. She kept on shooting.”

Power’s first basket of the night, a 3-pointer in the middle of the second quarter, put Ames up 17-10.

It was some breathing room in a tight defensive struggle. Waukee used a full-court press, something Ames hadn’t seen much of.

“On defense, they are everywhere, all the time,” Power said. “When you feel like you are open for a split second, all of a sudden, someone is there. It’s really hard to navigate.”

Power then hit a basket 2.9 seconds before half, giving Ames a 20-12 lead at the break.

“That was a little bit of luck,” Power said. “I went to the lane, and I had the ball. I just threw it up, and it went in. Sometimes, that’s all you need.”

Power has played on varsity all four years. She’s been a starter the past two seasons.

“Jenna’s really changed her game a lot,” Sullivan said. “Her freshman and sophomore year, she’d stand beyond the 3-point line and take shots. That’s what we needed her to do.

“But as she’s gotten older, her physical ability to defend and her ability to get to the rim has gotten much better.”

And her ability to hit big momentum shots has been a key component in the Little Cyclones’ perfect start.

“Other teams know she can shoot it, but she just lets it fly,” Pritchard said. “And we know it’s going in.”